The Parksville Royals took two of their last three games, beating the Nanaimo Pirates and splitting a double header with the White Rock Tritons.
The Royals squeaked out a 2–0 victory against the Pirates last Wednesday at Serauxmen Stadium in Nanaimo. Parksville’s Andrew Evernden went the distance, striking out 11 batters through seven innings, only allowing three hits.
Evernden also helped out his own cause, driving in one of the two runs for the Royals. Justin Dieleman, from Nanoose Bay, had a big game at the plate, going three for four with an RBI to boot.
“It felt pretty good being able to help the team out,” Evernden said. “It went a long way in helping me for the rest of the game, getting that RBI in the first inning. I feel like I’ve been finding the strike zone a lot better this year and the hitting is coming around too. As a team we’re really building together and it’s nice to see the younger guys stepping up and contributing the way they have.”
The Royals continued their excellent pitching as they travelled to White Rock for a double header on Saturday. Owen Kelly got the start on the mound and went the distance in this one as well, striking out six and giving up just three hits with one walk to earn the win.
The bats came alive for the Royals as Ethan Fox went 4–5 at the dish, Dieleman going 2–4 and Keller Anderson belted his first home run of the season, a three–run shot to help power the Royals to an 8–0 victory.
Game two wasn’t so kind to the Royals as Nanoose Bay’s Josh Anderson was tagged for seven earned runs and took the loss on the mound. Keller Anderson had another solid game at the plate, going 2–3 and driving in the only run for the Royals in game two.
“We had a good week in terms of our overall game. Winning two out of three is great and anytime we can go into a weekend series and split the doubleheader is nice too,” head coach Dave Wallace said.
“I thought that our pitching against Nanaimo and the first game against White Rock was fantastic. Our defense played well in all three games and we hit the ball well in those three games too. We’re really finding our stride right now and it goes hand in hand with the enthusiasm these kids have.”
The Royals will now play host to the annual B.C.’s Best Baseball Tournament, hosting teams from far and wide.
The tournament starts on Saturday and runs through to Monday, with plenty of action at Springwood Park.